Post Liberation Day –"Secondary Tariffs" Raise Costs Even Higher For International Actors

President Trump has used tariffs as a significant point of geopolitical leverage since the beginning of his second term. Indeed, his administration dubbed April 2, 2025 "Liberation Day" in honor of a sweeping set of tariffs imposed on a variety of goods and counterparties. These included, among others, a 10 percent universal tariff on all imports into the United States effective April 5, 2025.¹ Certain countries and territories have heightened tariffs imposed, such as Japan at 24 percent and the EU at 20 percent, based on the administration's assessment that these countries are "bad actors on trade."² China, by far, had the largest tariff imposed with 54 percent to account for all imports and fentanyl.³